The disclosure relates generally to glass sheets and more particularly to glass sheets having improved mechanical strength.
It has been long established that the mechanical strength of a glass article can be significantly increased if an outer surface of the glass is in compression. Strengthening of glass using adjacent glass layers having differences in their coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) has also been studied.
In addition, it is known that the mechanical strength of a glass sheet can be substantially increased by using an ion exchange process. However, such processes can be limited by the amount of ion exchange that can be achieved depending on the composition and dimensions of the glass. In addition, such processes can significantly increase production costs and time, require substantial additional production floor space, and present waste disposal issues. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide glass sheets with increased mechanical strength where an ion exchange process is not required in the production or processing of the glass.